In 1996 and 1997, a man named Bradley Robert Edwards terrified the Perth suburb of Claremont. He did this by killing two women, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.
What’s more, Edwards’ crime went unsolved for 25 years. He was only caught in 2016 and sentenced to prison in 2020.
Around three years later, Channel 7 turned these events into a two-part series called The Claremont Murders. Part one was released on April 10, and part two was released on April 17.
However, The Claremont Murders has received a bit of backlash. This is because some Aussies aren’t stoked that this mini-series was created. Some people, partially in Perth, feel like these murders are too fresh for them to be entertainment.
As the actor Damien Doherty wrote on Facebook, “The reality is too heartbreaking. I don’t want to go over it again. I can only think of the families still grieving. So I will not even watch five minutes of it.”
What’s more, someone on Twitter wrote: “Are any of you watching The Claremont Murders? I tried, but I found it was close to home for me.”
This person then stated that they live 30 minutes away from where the murders take place.
So, what does this backlash mean for The Claremont Murders? Well, it may have been a contributing factor in it not taking off.
According to Mark Naglazas, writing for The Age, the first part of this mini-series didn’t have very good ratings. Overall, it was in the 10th position behind The Farmer Wants a Wife, I’m a Celebrity, and LEGO Masters: Grand Masters. On April 10, this programme beat 7.30, only pulling in 442,000 TVs.
If you’re making a series about a certain community, it’s better to have that community on your team. Otherwise, you could end up like The Claremont Murders. Creating a bit of backlash and not much else of note.
Related: Meet The Claremont Murders Cast
Related: A Definitive List of the Best True Crime Shows
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